My dear Miguel, One point regarding what you quoted as having been reported by the Goa newspaper.....is contested.
It is submitted (from Goa) that NO patient (inmate) was pushed from any WARD at Chicalim to make room for any Puja. The room used for the Puja is apparently a room meant for VIPs - which was empty. ( Why a Public hospital should have a room for VIPs - is another matter ). There also is another matter which you may wish to bring up with your 'colleagues' at Cafe Prakash. This point involves Dr. Preeti Kaisare. It is being submitted (from Goa) that Dr. Kaisare was only acting as a good Samaritan at the time of the unfortunate incident. She was neither on Duty nor on Call. She in fact had resigned from the post and was on leave. She apparently was there only for Puja. She reportedly was asked to see a child who was pulseless and unresponsive i.e. had passed away. It is being further submitted (from Goa) that Dr. Kaisare felt 'cornered' by the newspaper reporter into making a statement. This implies that Dr. Kaisare felt threatened by the "reporter'.....who has the luxury of writing anonymously about a doctor whom he has named. The Herald report distinctly gave me the impression that Dr. Kaisare shrugged off responsibility for the patient. How could this be so IF Dr. Kaisare was NO longer on staff at the hospital? IF the given impression is erroneous and unjustified, do you believe that the Herald needs to re-investigate this story and if necessary, correct it and apologise to the doctor concerned ? >From the Herald report, it appears that there were other senior doctors at that cottage hospital during this unfortunate incident. I am surprised (may be I should not be) that the chief did not step in and take responsibility for the incident. It appears to me that the chief conveniently allowed a doctor who had already left the staff to become the Herald scapegoat. There have been other submissions from Goa which I do not support. For while, it is NEVER possible to save every child who presents to a doctor's office, the responsibility for ensuring that there are NO potential problems sitting in the waiting room is not that of the mother but that of the Clinic. A organisation of a system of triage is part of the responsibility of the chief of the clinic. So is the responsibility of ensuring that adequate primary resuscitation equipment and medications are at hand in the clinic. Am I allowed to take home the impression that the Cafe Prakash crowd have, albeit inadvertently, given the Head of the Chicalim hospital, the Director of Health Services and possibly the Mantri for Health a free pass while effectively and unjustifiably "slapping" Dr. Kaisare? Are you or our Sunday Herald writer willing to work towards a correction of this story? Or are we happy sacrificing a woman pediatrician while "we" stay in the shadow of anonymity aka "Herald Reporter"? sincerely jc == Miguel Braganza wrote: It is widely reported in the newspapers that one 9 year old boy lost his life while some doctors at the cottage hospital in Chicalim were getting ready to celebrate Ganesha Chaturthi in a hospital ward ...after pushing the inmates into the passage outside. They were apparently "permitted" to do so by the Director of Health Services, Government of Goa in flagrant violation of the circular prohibiting religious celebrations [if the free food at Ganesha and Ladainha can be called "religious" though they are celebrations] on working days in Government of Goa offices and institutions.
